The Paladin
by sudoku
Summary: "Stark, I could take care of myself. I'm a doctor. Thank you for the lift. You could drop me at my Sanctum." "Who do you think I'm? A UPS guy? Have you heard what Friday said? I know you heroic type likes to self-sacrifice but your stubbornness has reached the level of martyrdom. Not to mention, what were you doing trying to close the rift alone?" Part 11 of the Adventure series.
1. The Martyr

-Unbetaed and not native speaker so please kindly point out any mistakes.

* * *

He felt thousands of fire needles pricking his skin as he plunged to the Earth. Where was Sophie? He then remembered that he asked her to help Hawkeye because his arrows would do the most damage to those creatures. The Avengers were not even aware of his presence. When he reached here, they were already battling those demons without realizing the source of the rifts. He knew it would be too late for Sophie to reach him as he would fall splat in 4 seconds with the height and speed he were going. Sometime he hated physics, and would never become a physicist. At least he had closed the rifts to another dimension so it was a good thing he was a sorcerer, not a physicist.

Perhaps he should start to pray rather than questioning his life choices at the last second of his life.

"I don't want to die as this world would be unprotected!" He was surprised by his last second prayer.

Suddenly he was not plunging headfirst anymore, instead he was being lifted up. Had Sophie come to rescue him?

"In that case, perhaps you should call for backup first before trying to close the rift by yourself. I thought you were smarter than that, Dr. Strange."

He opened his eyes that he didn't realize he had closed. How embarrassing! He was carried bridal style by Iron Man. "Stark…" Thousands of fire needles coursing through his veins and he felt numb so he stopped. He knew a spell to remove it. He closed his eyes as he incanted the spell quietly. He knew Stark thought him as a cuckoo so don't need to give Stark more verbal arsenal to insult him.

"Friday, analysis on Dr. Strange."

He could hear a female voice coming out of Stark's coms. Stark must have put it on speaker for his benefit. "Dr. Strange has been losing a lot of blood. He needs a transfusion soon. He also had a variation of curare coursing through his veins. I've already called Dr. Cho so she would know what to prepare. There was some unknown energy in his body before but now it was gone. I believe Dr. Strange has taken care of that himself."

"Thank you, Friday."

Oh, that was the reason he still felt so weak and numb although the burning sensation had gone. The needles were magical but the poison and blood loss were not. "Stark, I could take care of myself. I'm a doctor. Thank you for the lift. You could drop me at my Sanctum." He didn't want to owe the Avengers.

"Who do you think I'm? A UPS guy? Have you heard what Friday said? I know you heroic type likes to self-sacrifice but your stubbornness has reached the level of martyrdom. Not to mention, what you were doing trying to close the rift alone?"

"I'm not what you called the heroic type. I just need to do what was necessary. It was magical so the Avengers wouldn't be able to do it. I wasn't trying to close it. I _succeeded_ in closing it."

"I'm glad you keep your wits about you despite your poison. Fine, you succeeded. But at what cost? What do you think the Avengers would feel if you died while we were battling?"

"I didn't plan to die. I didn't know that the rift had a self-protecting mechanism. You don't need to worry about me because I'm not an Avenger."

"Do you know how silly you sounded just now? Just because you are not an Avenger, that doesn't mean we will let you die especially after you just saved our bacon. You know what… I shouldn't be the sound of reason in this conversation. I'm the unreasonable one in the group. Steve would never hear the end of it."

What he wanted to reply died in this throat as it was starting to get difficult to breathe. It was also difficult for him to stay conscious.

"Friday, ETA."

"Three seconds, Mr. Stark. Dr. Cho is ready." That was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.

* * *

 **Notes:**

-Yeah, I planned it to be one-shot but I'm evil so it will be concluded in the next chapter.


	2. The Paladin

-Still not betaed so please let me know any mistakes.

-Warning: Some medical inaccuracies although I tried my best with Google, languages and innuendos from Tony.

* * *

Stephen felt disoriented when opened his eyes. He didn't recognize the room was in. This was definitely not his Sanctum. It had the bright fluorescent light of a hospital but without the antiseptic smell. The wall had a big slanted letter A. _Oh, no, I'm in the Avengers Tower._

Everything came back to him. His fall, the poison, Tony Stark, and the blood loss. No wonder he still felt quite faint.

He noticed the IV hook with saline attached to his left arm. He was thankful there was no feeding tube because that would be uncomfortable. That meant he had not been unconscious for too long.

He looked down at his own body and realized he didn't wear his robe and pants anymore. Instead, he wore an oversized blue T-shirt with a picture of Cap with his right thumb up with the writing "Cap approves" and a pair of loose pants. He mentally shrugged. At least it was Cap rather than Iron Man.

Sophie suddenly flew from the door to drape herself on him. "It's good to see you too." His throat was very dry so he had been out long enough. He then wondered whether Stark had any hidden camera in this room. Talking to his cloak was definitely a blackmail material.

He nearly jumped when an unembodied voice spoke above his head. "Good evening, Doctor Strange. You're in the hospital wing of the Avengers Tower. Doctor Cho asked me to call her when you are awake."

"Good evening, Friday. How long have I been out?"

"Around 37 hours. Doctor Cho is at the door now and she will explain better than me. I hope you have an enjoyable stay here, Doctor Strange."

He doubted it but that would not be Friday's fault. "Thank you, Friday."

"It's my pleasure, Doctor."

There was a beautiful and elegant Asian woman dressed in a doctor scrub at his door. "Good evening, Doctor Strange. It's nice to meet you. I've been a fan of your works. My name is Helen Cho. I'm your doctor."

The name sounded familiar. He then remembered all the papers she had written. "Dr. Helen Cho. I've heard about you. I admire your papers about genetic and cellular regeneration."

She seemed surprised by that fact. "Likewise, I've heard a lot about you and your innovative procedures. I wish the circumstances of our meeting had been different. You must be parched." She put a tray with a glass of water and a straw in front of him. "This should help."

He lifted his right arm to pick his straw, he still felt weak. As he sipped the water, she continued, "You nearly died twice because of the curare and the blood loss. Consider yourself lucky that Mr Stark brought you just in time." He just nodded as he was not sure what to say and he still needed to drink. "We needed to give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when you stopped breathing. It was more effective than chess compression given your circumstances. I also used a ventilator to help you breathing until you could breathe normally."

That explained why his throat felt sore. Then something clicked. "Please don't tell me that Tony Stark was the one giving me mouth-to-mouth."

Dr. Cho raised her neat eyebrows. "As a matter of fact, it was me who gave you that. Please don't tell me that you're homophobic. Saving lives is more important than any of your internal phobia."

He would've raised his hands to object but even drinking water on his own was still a chore. "No, no, nothing like that. I've given mouth-to-mouth to plenty of people despite their genders. It's just because he is Tony Stark. If he were the one doing it, I'd never hear the end of it. Thank you for saving my life."

She smiled. "No worries. You were no Thor, but how many people could claim they've saved Doctor Stephen Strange's life— the super neuro-surgeon and now the super magician?"

He shook his head. "Ex-neurosurgeon." He remembered his old days. "There was nothing super about it. Those were just skills. There is also nothing super about being a magician. Everyone could do it. Magician also makes it sound like I perform stage magic tricks. I prefer the term sorcerer myself but for you, you can call me anything as you've saved my life." He belatedly realized how it sounded and bit his tongue.

"Under different circumstances, I'd have thought you were hitting on me but I know what you meant about saving life. The patients can be very grateful. How about sorcerer extraordinaire? "

"There was nothing extraordinary about it but it sounds much better."

She smiled again. "You're nothing like what I heard about you. As I said, I wish we met under different circumstances. I've also administered Pyridostigmine via injection to counter the effects of curare. The next immediate danger was of course the blood loss. You really didn't make my job any easier with so many life threatening dangers in one go."

"Sorry."

"But I'm used to it, treating all those Avengers who seem to visit this place as often as they go to battle. It's even more for Clint Barton. At least you have the decency not to get injured that often."

Stephen thought that was because he usually tended to himself after any battles. Some of his injuries were also magical so they couldn't be cured with the usual medicine. He wisely chose to remain quiet.

"You lost more than three pints of blood which as you know was more than 30% of your blood so I needed to give you blood transfusion and fluid resuscitation with crystalloid. The only good news was the bleeding had stopped so I didn't need to find ways to stop the bleeding from the cuts all over your body. I already put some salve on your worse cuts. Sorry about your clothes. I couldn't salvage them."

Since he went to medical school, he was not concerned about nudity so didn't think others seeing him naked as a big deal. Instead, he was thankful, that Doctor Cho, like Christine, was a very competent doctor. They'd have worked well together if he were still a doctor. Instead of following that depressing train of thought, he went to his usual defence mechanism— making the situation lighter by joking. "Doctor Cho, if you didn't know you any better, I'd have thought you were the one hitting on me — the mouth-to-mouth, taking off my clothes, and putting salve all over my body. Do you do that for all of your patients?"

"Only the idiotic ones who like to be martyrs. Not surprisingly that actually covers a lot of superheroes I know. And please call me Helen. After all, as you said it yourself I've seen more of you than most women." She might have winked but it was really fast so he wasn't sure.

"I'm not a superhero. I don't have any superpowers, just the knowledge of how to harness energy from other dimensions. And you can call me Stephen."

"Stephen, I'm not going to argue semantics with you and I'll pretend I didn't hear about other dimensions. You need to preserve your energy to recover."

"I'm sure I can rest at my own place. Could I have my sling ring back?" Trying to prove that he was fine, he swung his left foot slowly to the floor so as not to disturb his IV. It didn't feel so bad so he gripped his bed and put his right feet on the floor. If it were not for Sophie, his face would have made acquaintance with the floor. He also felt the pain on his left hand because the IV needle got yanked out of his arm.

Helen quickly came to support him and put him back to bed. She put some antiseptic on his bleeding left arm and hooked the IV back. "I should've predicted you would do that. Every damn idiotic superhero. They usually live in this tower so at least I could tend to them in their own place. Yours is not even in this area."

He gave a weak grin. "Perhaps I could stay a bit longer."

"You think?! By the way, Friday managed to contact a Doctor Christine Palmer and Wong when you were brought in. Doctor Palmer asked me to sedate you. She said it was for your own good and my sanity. She said something about I shouldn't suffer any heart attack from backseat doctoring by a know-it-all astral ghost. I don't understand any of that. I must be hearing it wrong as I was concentrating on helping you to breathe. She also asked me to order you to have a bed rest for at least two days even after you regain consciousness. She said you need it for your lack of sleep and nutrition. I understand these parts and I agree with her assessment." She clicked her tongue. "For a doctor, you're terrible at taking care of your own health. Wong also left a message saying something about don't let the idiot leave until he has rested for at least three days, you can keep him longer if you want." She smiled. "You have such caring and lovely friends."

"I think you meant overbearing and know-it-all."

"I'm glad you can still joke which mean you're well on the road to recovery. If your health doesn't deteriorate for the next 24 hours, I could sign a release form so please behave. By the way, Tony is dying to talk to you but I told him you need your rest first. I let him talk to you when you have enough strength."

He groaned. "I thought a doctor should give a better motivation for the patients to recover well."

She patted his shoulder. "You'll come to like Tony once you know him better. He's an acquired taste. Now go to sleep. Doctor's orders." She definitely winked this time. "Friday, please dim the lights so the good doctor could go to sleep."

* * *

When he woke up next, Friday greeting him immediately. "Good morning, Doctor. I hope you have a good rest."

"Thanks Friday, I've slept better but can't complain. How long did I sleep this time?"

"Only around 6.5 hours. It's 4.15 am. Do you want to go back to sleep?"

"I think I've enough sleep to last me for a few days. Is there any chance Doctor Cho could let me go home? Not that I need her permission but it's for professional courtesy."

"I would suggest against that, Doctor. Your blood platelet count is still low. Doctor Cho took your blood when you were sleeping and reported the result to me. Besides, she is sleeping now. However, Mr Stark would like to talk to you."

"I really don't want to disturb Mr Stark's sleep. I can meditate now."

"Mr Stark hasn't gone to bed. He told me to contact him as soon as you're awake and have the energy to talk which I presume you would if you can meditate."

He couldn't argue with such logic. "Fine, let's get over it. Please let Mr Stark know I'm ready to talk."

His cloak flew out of the door going somewhere as soon as he mentioned about Tony Stark. He let her do whatever the Cloak was up to in her free time. He was a bit worried if she discovered online shopping. He then remembered he didn't have any credit card anymore so perhaps his worry was unwarranted.

Ten minutes later, Stark arrived with a tray containing a glass and a bowl. He still dressed in his T-shirt which had some oil stains so he must be tinkering with some hardware.

His doctor's sensibility kicked in. "Do you know it's unhealthy to stay awake the whole night to work?"

Stark put the tray in front of him. "It's good to see you, too, my awesome facial hair bro. I'm not going to be lectured by a guy who neither sleeps nor eats when he is too busy saving this dimension and also doesn't call for any backup while charging head first sometimes quite literally into danger."

Stephen winced. "Did you talk to Wong? Of course you did. Please don't call me awesome facial hair bro. I'm not anyone's bro."

"Fine, can I call you Stephen? Doctor Strange is quite a mouthful. I think I have the right to call you by first name given I've saved you and carried you bridal style here. Not to mention I've seen you naked and you're wearing my T-shirt and pants."

"I've a feeling you will call me Stephen anyway whether I approve." He suddenly grinned. "I don't know that you're such a big fan of Cap. You can have them back."

"Hello, it's Cap! Of course everyone has a Cap T-shirt." Stephen wanted to say he didn't but since he was still weak he needed to pick his battles. "Are you secretly a nudist? You have no clothes left so there is no other choice. Perhaps it's for the better because wearing a robe in my tower is just too tacky and I've met Thor."

He sighed. "Stark, why are you here? I believe it's not for questioning my fashion and life choices."

"You can call me Tony, quid pro quo. Besides, I've seen more of you than I'd prefer. You're my guest so your wellbeing is my concern. Where are my manners?" He motioned toward the tray. "Drink this water. I'm not sure whether you're a vegetarian so I played safe and ordered this roasted butternut squash, garlic, and apple soup. I heard it's the best in New York. I asked Friday to order it for me."

"I just woke up a few minutes ago. How could you get it delivered so fast?"

"Shame on you. You've forgotten whose building you're in. Have you ever heard of a microwave? It's a magical thing, pun intended, to keep things warm. Of course my technology is more advanced than the products in the market. I got the soup delivered as soon as I heard you were awake the first time but Helen said you needed your rest so I waited until now. If it has gone bad, I could order a new one."

The doctor felt a lump in his throat. "That's very thoughtful of you, Sta- Tony. Besides Christine and people in Kamar-Taj, I haven't seen such kindness for a long time."

Tony widened his eyes. "Really? After all you've done for this dimension. Aren't you the Wizard Supreme?"

"I'm not a Sorcerer Supreme yet. I'm merely a Master of the Mystic Arts."

Tony waved his arms. "Detail, smetail. It sounds the same to me. You bust your ass saving this dimension. I think you're just mixing with the wrong crowd. Or perhaps you work in secret too much so you're not well known like the Avengers. Please drink the soup when it's warm. I won't be offended if you eat and talk."

He went to pick up the glass. His arms were still weak but not as bad as before. He finished the water in one gulp. He then picked up the soup and slowly drunk it. He then realized how hungry he was. He still tried to drink it slowly as not to upset his empty stomach. He felt Tony staring at him but he was too hungry to care.

"This soup is very good. Thank you."

Tony smiled widely. "I could ask Friday to give you the address if you'd like. She is like my loyal personal assistant. "

Friday chimed in. "Thank you, sir. It's good to be appreciated occasionally."

"Don't get used to it."

"Knowing you, I won't, sir."

Stephen raised his left eyebrow. "Do you often talk to Friday?"

He waved his left arm toward the ceiling. "Eh, she is more interesting and intelligent than most people I know. Which wouldn't be surprising given I created her."

He chose not to comment on it. "Now I've finished my meal. May I know the purpose of your visit? Why you and not the rest of your team?"

"Do you want to see Cap? Is that it? Or perhaps Black Widow? I warn you, she is super dangerous."

"No, no. I just wonder why the great Tony Stark wants to talk to me. You've saved my life. Why the extra special interest?"

"Perhaps I'm just bored and lonely? Perhaps I actually like your company although the feelings might not be mutual? Pepper is off CEO-ing in London or Paris or could be both. If you want to see the rest of the Avengers, you're out of luck. Thor is off with Bruce. Something about only _friends from work_ would understand. I'm slightly hurt that he stole my science bro. Steve spends more time with Bucky whenever he can. Falcon is possibly tagging along. Having some sort of weird three-way. Vision is possibly playing hide the zucchini with Wanda. Yup, I meant it the dirty way. I don't know what Ant Man is up to most of the time, most likely training ants. I certainly don't know what the assassin duos are up to all the time. Most likely stage a coup in Caracas or somewhere else. So you're stuck with me."

"Lucky me."

"You have no idea how lucky you are. You couldn't breathe on your own and you lost more than one third of your blood. By the way, who is Domino? Why are all your names related to pizza? You kept trashing and yelling his name and something about bargaining to keep the Earth while you were unconscious."

He bit his lower lip. That should never come up. "Do you mean Dormammu?"

"Yeah, that guy. Helen had to sedate you with heavier sedative. Did you lose a bargain for a mansion or something?"

Helen must have forgotten to tell him that. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Are you sure? My therapist said it's not healthy to bottle it all up. At least I think that's what she said. She also said I talked too much to cover up my own insecurity but I think she is just making it up so she could bill me more. I'm sure you can get an Avenger bulk discount."

He drew deep breaths and counted to ten. "It's nothing. I really don't want to talk about it. And I don't want to join your boy band."

"Don't be sexist! We also have Black Widow and Scarlet Witch in our team."

"Fine. I'm not joining your band."

"Your loss. But you really need to deal with it. It looks like post-traumatic stress for me. It takes one to know one."

He remembered the news clips Christine showed him when he told her that Tony went to find him the first time. "You were falling from the sky without your iron suit as you tried to save New York."

"Bingo. I'm surprised you know about that. And I saved New York, there was no try."

OK, he deserved that. He started to feel drowsy.

"I heard from Wong that you are quite reckless about your own life as long as you get the job done."

"Don't listen to him. Besides, didn't you fly a nuclear warhead through the portal?"

"I did. You're welcome, New York. The difference is people document what Avengers are up to all the time and make up the rest to sell papers. You work in secret. People don't know the work you do."

"It's better for normal people not to know about multiverse and dimensions. It's also easier to work when people don't know about me."

"Oh, I understand completely. I often wish for anonymity, well, at least in theory. However, you refuse Avengers' help. We're not muggles. We know magic exists."

"It's not safe for you to work with me."

"How does it work out for you so far?"

"I survive. This is just a fluke."

"Yes, it nearly cost your life. Isn't that the problem? You don't want to share your burden so people will never know and learn. You're like a paladin."

"A paladin? Like the twelve …"

"No, the other definition. You work for a great cause but you don't want other people to know what you've done. You're like a secret paladin."

He never thought about it that way. He just did what he could with his abilities. He wanted to say something to counter Tony's argument but felt too tired to think of anything.

"Stephen, you're one of the most powerful people I know and I've met Thor, Hulk, and Loki. Why were you falling down the other day? I thought you have a cloak that could levitate you."

"I do. I asked Sophie to help Hawkeye. I perched on top of a tower to close the rift but I bore the brunt end of a magical explosion and couldn't fall back on the roof." He then realized his mistake but it was too late. He blamed it on his fatigue. In fact, he really wanted to close his eyes now.

"Ha! I knew it. You named your cloak. Not that I'm judging as I also named my armors and Friday is my PA. I think even Thor named his _Mjölnir_. I'm not sure about Cap and his shield. I'm sure Scott Lang named all his ants. Falcon named his drone. Am I boring you?"

He didn't realize that he had closed his eyes. He forced them to open. "N-n-not, bo-boring. All-all of us have our qu-quirks." He really couldn't keep his eyes open and his tongue to work. "Pl-please con-continue."

"If you continue at this rate, you will finish five sentences in one hour. Go to sleep, Stephen. I'd better go to sleep myself before Pepper yells at me in one hour. At least when she calls and I'm in bed, Friday technically doesn't lie when she says that I'm still asleep. I'll tell you my real reasons to talk to you when we both have the energy. I came here to prove my conjectures about you. Don't worry. It's not about you joining the Avengers."

"Th-that's go-good." He was curious about what Tony wanted to say but sleep seemed to his top priority for now.

"Good night, or rather good morning, Stephen. Have a good rest."

"M-morning."

* * *

 **Notes** :

-Well, this story has become a three shot rather than two shot. Dr. Cho and Tony have talked for so long in this chapter. The good news is I have the ideas about the ending, the bad news is I lost the 1.5 page draft.  
-Doctor Helen Cho is awesome and I wish to expand about her a bit here.  
-Tony and Stephen have a complex relationship in the comic. I'll explain more at the end note of the next chapter because I'm not going to spoil the next chapter by explaining it here :)  
Here is an example of their contrast:  
i-sudoku dot tumblr dot com/post/164504878603/new-avengers-vol-3-2-2013  
-Stephen indeed uses humor and tends to see the good in people. It was clearly shown when he teamed up twice with Frank Castle aka The Punisher.  
i-sudoku dot tumblr dot com/post/164505226058/favorite-team-up-doctor-strange-and-frank-castle  
-I think Strange was in Kamar-Taj during the Civil War in MCU. I'm aware that the Sokovian Accords is different from the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA) in the comic. As for his stand about Civil War, I recapped it here from the comic.  
i-sudoku dot tumblr dot com/post/163746328078/doctor-strange-in-civil-war-2006  
In the New Avengers Vol 1, he said he should have helped to avoid any blood shed (yes, there were some casualties in the comic). So later his Sanctum was used by the Rogue Avengers (the rest of the team Cap who didn't sign the SHRA, although the team roster was different from the movie) as their headquarter and he also helped the Rogue Avengers in their avenging duties as the result he was also a fugitive. I'm just stating the fact from the comics so I didn't waste my time reading them :) I really don't want to argue about Civil War in this non Civil War compliant story. Stephen's stand in Civil War affected his relationship with Tony in the comic hence I mentioned it here.  
Yes, I use my Tumblr account to keep these kinds of posts rather than making a new account.  
-I blame Unknownnobody32 for the idea of Sophie and online shopping.


	3. The Magical Killjoy

-Unbetaed so please kindly point out any mistakes.  
-Slight spoilers for The Defenders.  
-Warning: Tony's language plus some innuendo.

* * *

Stephen woke up the third time in the Tower and felt much more refreshed. To his relief, he was not hooked on any IV anymore.

"Friday, how long have I been asleep this time?"

"Around seven hours, Dr. Strange. It's nearly midday now. Mr Stark asked me to ask you what you want to eat. I could order it for you."

"I'm not hungry yet. Is Mr Stark still asleep?"

"He woke up two hours ago. That was only around five hours sleep. It's not enough."

"It's plenty for Mr Stark." Stephen realized that both he and Tony didn't sleep that much. He wondered whether it was a common thing to be proud of. "Do you want anything else?"

"What did Dr. Cho say?"

"She took your blood sample around one hour ago. She said your platelet count has increased but still not at the desired level. However, she said you could go home given how stubborn you were but as long you promise you will take care of yourself."

"Can I talk to her then?"

"She is off the premise to take care of Mr. Barton who managed to get himself injured doing his laundry."

"Is he OK? How could anyone get injured doing laundry?"

"Dr. Cho said he would live but with some mild concussion. You haven't met Mr. Barton enough time to know he could get injured just by walking in his living room which I heard has a lot of trip hazard."

Stephen shook his head. He remembered his last conversation with Dr. Cho. She was not kidding about Clint Barton.

"In that case, I would like to meet Mr Stark to thank him before I go back to my Sanctum."

"Sir is busy at his workshop at the moment. I've informed him that you're awake and he said he would come here in less than one hour. He asked you to rest more first."

"I think I've rested enough. Where is the washroom?"

"It's on the left near the door.

He swung his left leg toward the floor, when he thought he wouldn't fall down, he swung his right leg. When he realized he wouldn't fall flat, he started to walk slowly toward the washroom.

Sophie chose that moment to fly from the door and settled on his shoulders. She tried to levitate him to the bathroom.

He swatted her. "Stop it. I'm not an invalid _yet_."

He could feel that she pouted but she didn't do anything. "I miss you, too." He felt silly saying that because he knew Friday watched everything but he was sure the AI had watched weirder things if half of what he heard about the Avengers were true.

After coming out of the washroom, he decided to meditate to recharge himself. Sophie flew out again doing whatever she chose to do.

Doing a 30-minute meditation did wonder to his mind. For the first time since his most recent near death, he felt much better. He regretted dismissing his patients who were into meditation.

Tony chose that moment to walk in. (Stephen suspected he timed it until he finished his meditation. Tony Stark was crude but he could be thoughtful when he wanted to.)

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty. It's good to see you being vertical".

"I thought I'm your awesome facial hair bro. How could I be Sleeping Beauty as well?"

Ignoring his question, Tony mimed crying then wiping his tears. "The Awesome Facial Hair Bros live. I'll patent it if you want."

Stephen sighed. "You said you wanted to discuss something important with me. Out with it."

"Do you want to do it over lunch? Since you can walk, I prefer to do it the Common Room. I usually avoid the Medical Bay like a plague."

Stephen understood Tony's implication. He only came to the Bay to visit friends. He considered Stephen as a friend. He didn't actually know how to deal with that because Stephen Strange didn't do friends. At least the old Stephen Strange was. Now he was trying to be a better person.

"Fine, I'll go to the Common Room with you."

Of course Sophie chose that moment to fly back to his shoulders. He wondered whether she actually just hid outside the door and chose some dramatic moments to make entrances, not unlike him—he was well-known for making dramatic entrances. Of course he didn't snoop.

After eating Thai Chicken Salad (Stephen had to stop Tony from ordering pizza, he told Tony it was not healthy and he got "magical killjoy" in his growing repertoire of nicknames), Stephen asked again, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"What? No foreplay. You're so boring."

He directed his most unimpressed look at Tony.

Tony relented. "OK, OK, one judging look from one Steve is enough, I don't need another. What do you think about setting up a clinic for superheroes? You could be a consultant there."

He sighed. "Sta…Tony, is this about getting me a proper job? I'm already a Master of the Mystic Arts and it's more than a full time job. Besides, you already have the Avengers Medical Bay with a super competent Dr. Cho."

Tony shook his head and both his hands to emphasize his point. "No, no, nothing like that. I know you don't like being pitied. I just think the Avengers Medical Bay is only accessible for the Avengers. But I'm not that egocentric, despite what Pepper said, to know that the Avengers are not the only superheroes in town. I've heard of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, The Bullet Proof Man, Jessica Jones, and many others. You being injured and not being an Avenger had me thinking that perhaps we need a clinic for all superheroes. No questions asked. You don't need to work full time, you just need to lend your skills when needed."

"It's not a bad idea."

"Of course, it comes from me."

Stephen rolled his eyes. "I actually have talked about it with Daredevil. He knows Danny Rand quite well so Rand Enterprises would fund the clinic. I guess you could collaborate with him and work out the details."

"You've met Daredevil? How do you even know him?"

"I saved his life before then he saved mine."

"I knew it. You got injured very often. Is that your ploy to get to know more superheroes? You know you could just call them."

"No, no. You didn't hear me properly, I saved him first. He happened to be in my Sanctum when I happened to be ehm… injured."

"My points still stand. But sure, I could ask Pepper to contact Rand Enterprises. I wanted to meet Danny Rand anyway. I heard he also gets superpowers."

Stephen lifted his left eyebrow. "More recruitment for your Avengers?"

"Nah, I've learned my lesson that not everyone wants to be an Avenger." He was staring at Stephen when he said that.

"In that case, I'll tell Daredevil that you're interested in building the clinic. Besides Dr. Cho, I'd also recommend Claire Temple. She is a nurse but she has helped a lot of superheroes in New York. She has also saved mine."

"Ha, you just admitted that you were a superhero."

"I did not."

"You did."

The doctor sighed. "I'll ask Christine if she can help out as well. She works long hours so I guess she could only help out when she can."

"That hot girlfriend of yours."

"She is not my girlfriend."

"She was so worried about you when you were unconscious."

"It's complicated."

"Just like me and Pepper then but of course we are engaged now so she will punch me if she knows I said our status is complicated."

"She certainly will, sir." Friday chimed in.

"Thanks a lot, Friday."

"Anytime, sir."

"Tony, if that was the only thing you wanted to talk about, consider it done. Just let me know what I need to do to finalize it as long as I'm in this world of course."

"You know it sounds like you're on crack when you talk like that. But unfortunately it's the truth. Before you go, I want you to discuss one more delicate matter."

"Tony, if it's about STD. You can just talk to Dr. Cho."

Tony huffed. "Why do you always assume I have STD?"

Stephen smiled as he could still rile Tony up like Tony usually did to him. "Because you said it's delicate."

"I meant delicate as in sensitive and secretive. What do you think of a secret organization that helps to save the world but without public knowledge?"

"Do you mean like the Avengers but in secrecy? Why don't you ask your Avengers team member then?"

"The Avengers seem to exclude a lot of superheroes and also mutants. I want all superheroes, mutants, and even Inhumans to be represented. However, if the public knows about it, they will call for our blood so it needs to be in secret."

"Do you mean a secret organization like the Illuminati?"

Tony cringed. "Something like that but with less conspiracy theories."

"I'm listening."

"Really? I thought you would storm off with Sophie by now."

"Tony, I'm truly interested in this."

"That must be a first coming from you." Noticing Stephen's glare, he quickly continued, "I was thinking that we should form a secret organization consists of representative for each fraction of superheroes and also you as our resident magician."

"Sorcerer," Stephen corrected automatically.

"I was thinking about inviting Professor Xavier for representing the mutants, Reed Richards for the Fantastic Four, Black Bolt for the Inhumans, Black Panther for the Wakandans, and Prince Namor for the Atlantis. I'll represent the Avengers and you for the ma-… sorcerers. I'm sure each group has its own problems. It'll be nice to have an organization outside your group to discuss things that you can't solve yourself. Each member could give an outside perspective."

"That's actually not a bad idea, Tony." Seeing Tony was about to say something, he quickly added, "Yes, I know. Because it's your idea." He rolled his eyes again. "But I'm not comfortable if we hide this from our teammates, in my case will be my fellow sorcerers. I also doubt those people you mention will be interested to join."

"Leave the recruitment to me. After all, I'm such a people person. The public loves me."

"If you say so, sir."

"Shut up, Friday."

"As for the secrecy, it's for everyone's own good. I'm sure a lot of people are uncomfortable with a secret organization consisting of powerful people. The less people to know about it, the safer it is for them."

"I think we still need to discuss the finer details especially about the secrecy but I just agree with your general idea. I'm sure we can help each other out."

"That's my bro. High-five?" Tony raised his right arm.

"I'm not high-fiving you. What are we? Five?"

Tony pouted. "It's like everyone is against fun around here."

"So we have agreed on the clinic for superheroes and also the might-be-secret organization. Thank you for saving my life. I really should go back to my Sanctum. All those interdimensional rifts won't seal themselves."

Tony grinned so widely. "It's nothing. I'm happy that you agree about my ideas but let's not do it over you or anyone dying again. And you're going to work again after you nearly died less than three days ago?"

Stephen rubbed his eyes. "There are really not many sorcerers around so yes, I have to do it."

"Can you ask Wong or someone else to stand in for you? One third of your blood was out of your body. I'm not a medical doctor but even I know that is a sign you need to rest, Paladin."

"Please don't call me that. I'm not that altruistic. I just do everything I can to fix my past mistakes."

"I get that. I really do, given my history. But you don't need to be dying to do that. Seriously, why do I always have to be the responsible one between two of us?"

"Fine, I'll ask Wong to find someone to help me for three days. But not a minute more."

"Hey, do you want to stay in the Tower for those three days? I'm sure you can talk shops with Dr. Cho. I think some of the Avengers will also be back by then so you can go to fanboy Cap or hide from Natasha. It'll be fun."

"Fine. But let me choose the food, please. You couldn't just live by pizza, burger, soft drink, and beer. You need to take care of your diet."

"I'd like to see you try. Pepper, Happy, or even Cap has failed to get me to eat healthily."

"Well, you haven't had me, a Master of the Mystic Arts, as your dietician."

"Challenge accepted. No magic. I also love the fact that you already play doctor as soon as you get out of your death bed."

"Fine, no magic." Stephen pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand. Sophie massaged his neck and shoulders. This was going to be the longest three days in his life but he loved challenges.

* * *

Notes:

-This is not as funny as I was hoping when I wrote it but I hope it's OK.  
-The secret organization Tony wanted to found indeed existed in the comic. I was intrigued by the The Illuminati in the New Avengers so that was the reason I wrote this fic. Despite what they did in the comics, they were founded by good people with good intentions. And we know what they said about good intention.  
-There is a Night Nurse in the comic who helps superheroes in her clinic. In "The Oath", which is one of the most famous Doctor Strange comic series and the one Cumberbatch went to buy in a New York comic book store dressed as Doctor Strange, the Night Nurse saved Stephen's life. Later she, Stephen, and Wong went to investigate who shot Stephen. In the end, Stephen asked her to move her clinic in his Sanctum. They dated for a while. Spider-Man mentioned that they broke up in the New Avengers. They didn't specifically said why most likely when his Sanctum was under attack while he protected the rogue Avengers and he thought he didn't deserve the title of Sorcerer Supreme anymore due to accumulating events so he went off leaving everyone. The Night Nurse he dated in "The Oath" was Linda Carter although there seem to be other night nurses including Christine Palmer.  
-The mention of Stephen saving Daredevil came from The Devil and The Sorcerer. Of course I haven't finished that story so some of the statements here are spoilers for that story :D  
-As I explained before in the comic, Tony and Stephen were not as close as Tony and Steve but they have their own complex relationship. Both of them are in the Illuminati. As I said that in the previous chapter, Stephen was a fugitive so their interaction during New Avengers, World War Hulk, and Illuminati meetings when Civil War hadn't ended in the comic was a bit awkward but they still put their duties above their personal differences.  
-Post Civil War, in the "Stark Disassembled", Tony deleted his memory so that Norman Osborn wouldn't get his hands into the secret identities of superheroes in the Superhero Registration database and also his Stark technology, leaving him on vegetative state. Stephen helped Tony to recover by astral projecting into his mind and talking to him . In the "Invisible Iron Man" Vol 2, he helped Tony dealing with Madame Masque. That was where the "awesome facial bros" thing coming up. Here is the screen cap from the comic: piratescoundrel dot tumblr dot com/post/151597592371/i-swear-if-the-infinity-war-doesnt-add-in-the


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